While this pandemic is not without precedent in human history, the novel coronavirus is, as it has fundamentally disrupted and changed our global systems. From history, we learn that during difficult and challenging times, the world and our communities innovate in unique and interesting ways. The stories that come to mind now are more of ad-hoc solutions to very immediate dangers. These tales of quick thinking and decisive action, as well as their aftermath, draw better parallels with the present that can help us see a new way forward.

As originally published on Devex (10 Feb 2021) - Through the establishment of RIL in Uganda, our team has learned a few lessons on integrating innovation into the humanitarian context that we are sharing in a supportive effort around localization.

UNDP Accelerator Labs, Honey Bee Network, and GIAN have jointly organized the first International annual competition for creative & innovative ideas or traditional knowledge practices around the world, which solve day-to-day problems. Life Shelter received this International Award among 2,500 solutions around the world.

A founding principle to RIL has always been the focus on strengthening local ecosystems to build resiliency and contextualized support for the response.

The Uganda Response Innovation Lab ( Uganda RIL) has developed a dynamic map of the local ecosystem to better identify actors, innovators, in the response. The map is comprehensive of the humanitarian and social impact innovation stakeholders and supporters in the innovation ecosystem.

The Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) produced a report in November 2020 on the future of technology and innovation from the COVID-19 response. The Response Innovation Lab’s both in Iraq and Uganda were highlighted.

Saul Kabali, who started as an intern at the Uganda Response Innovation Lab shares the 6 lessons he learned from his time at the lab, and how it has impacted the growth of his innovation - SafeBangle.

The REF is an innovative Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) mechanism in the Uganda refugee response. The study showcases REF as a good practice for community engagement in a refugee response setting and hopes to inspire other countries to do the same and attracting more support for the REF in the country.

Covid-19 has hit the most marginalized groups hardest, in terms of sustaining their livelihoods, and maintaining education opportunities for their children. At the same time, undeniable creativity is being noted as the crisis also catalyzes innovations. Yet, we face challenges in rolling out those innovations. Listen to this session hosted by Charlene Cabor, RIL Uganda Lab Lead alongside representatives from the Social Innovation Academy, A Hand Uganda, GSMA, and Starthub Africa to learn more.

The world is counting on innovations in virology, epidemiology, and other medical fields to deliver a vaccine for the novel Coronavirus and treatment for Covid-19. These breakthroughs are likely to be made in labs from the world’s leading economies. However, there is a critical second tier of issues whose solutions are already emanating from much more diverse contexts. NGOs in resource-poor settings are trying new methods of sharing information through multi-media channels and new forms of content. While these types of innovation may not lead to a cure for the disease, they are addressing critical problems in its transmission and spread; in addition to the direct implications of this pandemic, the long-term impact on the well-being of individuals remains obscure and will inevitably add another layer of challenge to people’s lives

Written by Jodi Ashley Fleming, University of Copenhagen.

Collaborative private sector-INGO partnerships allow both organizations to combine their valuable expertise and create contextual innovative solutions for a humanitarian and community-based response; something more essential than ever as new types of crises emerge globally. This qualitative study investigated Ugandan private sector attitudes towards partnerships with INGOs to co-create community-based innovations.

Research conducted by Fiona Mwenda and Lydia Tanner at The Research People for the Response Innovation Lab.

The paper begins with a short discussion of what we mean by scaling and why it is not appropriate for every innovation to scale. The paper then outlines the different types of evidence that are important to different audiences, and some of the factors that innovators should consider in prioritizing evidence.

A challenge faced by many refugees and rural community members in Uganda is the safety of saving money and the opportunities to access loans. Refugees frequently do not have access to banks, nor are they able to open bank accounts due to a lack of credit history or collateral. Not having a secure place to store money, makes saving challenging and risky. Akaboxi is tackling these problems straight on and transforming opportunities for financial service providers across Uganda.

The challenge of understanding school attendance within Somalia has been ongoing for quite some time due to several reasons such as displacement of communities due to recurring disasters and lack of correct information regarding school children. There are some additional complications to this in cases where children may have similar names, or variations such as Muhammed or Muhammad. Although there is some record keeping, it is done sporadically and is inconsistent. In order to understand the causes of dropouts and the dynamics of variables like gender, there needs to be a more efficient and effective way of capturing and storing this data.

By Max Vieille, Global Director, Response Innovation Lab

RIL’s Global Director dives into the difference between innovation in Silicon Valley, and in the humanitarian space, and how we can better solve identified challenges with a different playbook.

A short video to showcase RIL’s M&E tool in Somalia gathering evidence around an educational pilot case study of the Digital Attendance Application (DAA) education pilot with World Vision.